Hubris

[Guest guest]

A little while back someone made a post

commenting on the level of hubris in the classes on Guruji's

tour. I was actually amazed at how much competition

there was, how much showing off and posturing. It

seemed that relative to other kinds of gatherings or

large workshops, yoga workshops have a much higher

level of hubris in the crowd. Why?<br>Also, many yoga

teachers I have met and taken class with seem to be on

some kind of phoney baloney spirituality trip, are

full of arrogance and superiority. And what is up with

all the phoney baloney esoteric spiritual talk? It

seems to me that yoga is about finding your real self,

not some kind of phoney idea of a self where you are

'blissed out all the time'. I don't trust people like that

and I can say that MANY yoga teachers fit this m. o.

(I've been practicing yoga for a longish time and I've

meet a lot of different teachers) Also, a lot of time

in these classes I feel silenced by these people. My

spirit gets shut down. That is not yoga, is it?

<br>Also, why is there so much corruption in many of

those'circles of higher spirituality?' For example, all the

corruption at Naropa around Pema Choudron and Rinpoche - all

the divorces and sexual indescretions? Amrit Desai at

Kripalu. I think thay are probably all addicts and use

their spirituality as a drug that's going to provide an

escape from normal human experiences - like NEEDS and

EMOTIONS. Yoga practice doesn't get rid of these things. In

fact, sometimes yoga practice will INTENSIFY them. I

have experienced many days when during or after

practice I become swept with huge waves of rage and anger.

Many of my friends and students along the way have

experienced the same thing (especially with ashtanga since it

is so intensely detoxifying) and it frightened them

because they have some idea that they won't feel painful

emotions and that yoga will make them peaceful and happy

all the time, but what actually happens is that you

find the calm in the storm. Equanimity. Like you can

have anger and rage but not be overwhelmed by it.

Pretending that ugly emotions won't happen or implying that

having such experiences is an indication of a defective

practice is dangerous and harmful. It is also dishonest

and prideful. <br><br>I took a class yesterday with a

guy who knows a lot about asana practice and

alignment and internal alignment, but he is just FULL of

himself being on some kind of spiritual high plane. There

were five of us in the class and at one point he

actually got on a microphone and started wispering

rhetorical questions to us... "Why do you do yoga?What

keeps you coming back?" What a goofball-freak this guy

is. He's giving me the 'yoga stare' everytime I look

at him. He wants to be a GURU. And he has NO SENSE

OF HUMOR. Many yogis and yoga teachers seem to be

like this. NO SENSE OF HUMOR! Why? I wonder why this

is. I am really tired of it and really turned off by

it. My teachers are not like this, but why are so

many yogi's so FULL of themselves? It is such

CRAP!<br><br>See you,<br>T.

[Guest guest]

<<huge waves of rage and

anger>><br><br>well, i guess i've been lucky. i haven't had this

experience as yet. perhaps even that is

coming.<br><br><<why are so many yogi's so FULL of themselves? It is

such CRAP!>><br>without being facetious in the

least, it is because they are human. we all have our

faults and frailities. many of us are competitive, even

those who are high level yoga practioners. many of us,

yogis included,are insecure. many people have atrophic

or primordial senses of humor. many people who are

good at yoga may not have become good at teaching

yoga. perhaps the dilemma is a problem of expectations

exceeding reality. is it fair to expect those who have some

high level of ability in one thing--for example, doing

yoga postures--to be expert or advanced at all other

aspects of life?

[Guest guest]

Ah, hubris. One of my favorite words. It sums up

so many emotions and fallacies. And, it rolls off

the tongue. I feel your pain, funky. But, I have also

found that the teachers that don't "search" for

students are the ones that attract them. The teachers who

don't want to be anyone's "guru" tend to have a

following. They are the ones that simply enjoy life and

yoga. So, there is hope. Not every teacher is like BB.

<br><br>The arrogant egoists have the kind of followers that

are also desperately searching, like the egoist him

or herself is- hence the need to surround him or

herself with a horde of supplicants. Sad. I just keep

hoping that one day they'll no longer search for a sense

of meaning in the size of the crowd around them.

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Okkie, I forgot to mention to funky that

we really shouldn't get our panties in a bunch about

egotistical yoga practitioners (even if their negative energy

is spilling over onto your mat - which is what

happened to me at guruji's workshop in NYC). I had a good

laugh at this guy's posturing and eye wandering and

just kept going. If we let their negative crap flow

over into our world, then we'll be filled with that

crap. Better to see it, recognize it, and opt not to

let it ruin our yoga moment, our day, or our entire

lives.

[Guest guest]

funkyba-a-adlady<br><br>You hit the nail on the

head - how astute are your observations on some of

these people!<br><br><br>Why are they like this - some

theories:<br><br> -Primarily, some people, who are not blessed with

superior intelligence, BELIEVE THEIR OWN b.s. (ironic)<br>

-some others who were never meant to be leaders end up

as yogateachers having for the duration of the class

a "captive" audience. What a trip. In a marriage

situation at some point your spouse calls a halt to things

and points out kindly or otherwise that you are full

of ____. These people DON'T have that feedback

opportunity from their students. And they change spouses /

partners if they do not like the feedback they're getting.

Check it out.<br><br> - and some, once they have

developed expertise in an area become so self-confident

that they feel they have the power of god in their own

hands. They forget how small we all are, and that we're

all one.<br><br> - then you get the person who is

plein and simply put, a dope. A smug one might i

add.<br><br>These guys are in trouble if we all get a wave of rage

simultaniously, won't you say?

[Guest guest]

Yeah and that Josh was doing handstands before the Carlsbad class! At the first

row no less!!<br><br>I wish I was a yoga allstar...

[Guest guest]

I understand you when you mention that sometimes

after practice you are swept with waves of anger. Often

during the short walk back to my home after a yoga

session I have experienced very powerful negative

feelings, not to do with my practice but life in general, I

have even,become tearful. Sometimes I feel very

positive and relaxed too, so it's not all negativity,

maybe that's something telling me to let more stuff out

in the open instead of bottling it up as usual.

[Guest guest]

First of all, anger is not a 'negative' emotion.

There is no such thing as a 'negative' feeling. There

IS negative behavior and acting on anger could be

considered such. My mentioning anger and rage was an example

of some painful emotions that might or might not

come up for some people. These are feelings that

people have no? Obviously there are many other feelings

(like grief or sadness) that may also cause discomfort.

This confuses and surprises people including myself

who come to a yoga class thinking that they will

somehow rise above it all. They can't understand why they

aren't "cured". Yoga will reveal a true self, not an

idea of a self. Usually this self is beyond your

wildest imagination, if you are willing to just accept

what is revealed along the way. I just used it as an

example.<br><br>My point is that to make believe that yoga will keep

people from having painful emotions is irresponsible and

dangerous. So many yogis put on this phoney-baloney

I-am-so-spiritual 'yoga stare' and I'm like, "why are you looking

at me like that? Do I have a bean on my tooth?"

"What are you hiding from?"<br><br>I realize that

people are fallible but I think it's clear that there

are more scary people teaching yoga that there

probably ought to be and I wonder why. And why all the

showing off? I don't understand what rewards it

brings.<br><br>Pema Chodrun has been married and divorced three

times. Amrit Desai was thrown out of Kripalu for

sleeping with his 'devotees' and I could go on and on. Why

can't these people keep their pants on? OK, that's

harsh. But seriously!

[Guest guest]

I just have to say that also, my practice tends

to really kick up the endorphins in my system, among

other things which generally enhance my feelings of

well being. So who is complaining? How bad can this

be? Calm in the storm.<br>T.

[Guest guest]

First of all, anger is not a 'negative' emotion.

There is no such thing as a 'negative' feeling. There

IS negative behavior and acting on anger could be

considered such. My mentioning anger and rage was an example

of some painful emotions that might or might not

come up for some people. These are feelings that

people have no? Obviously there are many other feelings

(like grief or sadness) that may also cause discomfort.

This confuses and surprises people including myself

who come to a yoga class thinking that they will

somehow rise above it all. They can't understand why they

aren't "cured". Yoga will reveal a true self, not an

idea of a self. Usually this self is beyond your

wildest imagination, if you are willing to just accept

what is revealed along the way. I just used it as an

example.<br><br>My point is that to make believe that yoga will keep

people from having painful emotions is irresponsible and

dangerous. So many yogis put on this phoney-baloney

I-am-so-spiritual 'yoga stare' and I'm like, "why are you looking

at me like that? Do I have a bean on my tooth?"

"What are you hiding from?"<br><br>I realize that

people are fallible but I think it's clear that there

are more scary people teaching yoga that there

probably ought to be and I wonder why. And why all the

showing off? I don't understand what rewards it

brings.<br><br>Pema Chodrun has been married and divorced three

times. Amrit Desai was thrown out of Kripalu for

sleeping with his 'devotees' and I could go on and on. Why

can't these people keep their pants on? OK, that's

harsh. But seriously!

[Guest guest]

it's so true, that without humor about life and

its situations (especially our own!), Big Ego's can

happen or someone getting so full of themselves that

they are full of CRAP - REALLY! Without some

connection to the meaning of the word humility and

humbleness , yoga teachers and students alike can be at risk

of getting full of themselves. I thought about your

message all day. Thanks for that. There's meaning in my

life at subtle levels too. <br><br>As humans or

teachers or students or whatever its hard to always see

the selfish ways of our ego all of the time. You

cannot see how insignificant your own ego is. The ego is

not really worth a hill of beans ; so why not let it

go - except the parts of ego that get you by in

life. The part of ego that stengthens our purpose or

will to live. I think its better to live and follow

our bliss but be open to your own shadow and embrace

it too. The shadow is not easy to look at but

represents our growth potential. yadda yadda yadda....My own

teacher's a jerk sometimes! I totally am impacted by what

you said.

[Guest guest]

You're really right about this. There was a huge

amount of posturing and name dropping on that tour. I

guess the only thing that makes it worth it for me

anyway is the practice itself and Guruji and Sharath.

Ashtanga used to be less like this and might be again when

the current wave of trendiness is over, who knows?

When some of these teachers get BIG they start to

believe everything that's written and said about

them,lose perspective and change into jerks. I think only a

few handle it very well.How about the idea of going

to less classes and practicing on your own since

you've been at it a long time? Might avoid a lot of

irritation.

[Guest guest]

Very good post, thank you. It seems to me that

these arrogant 'spiritual' yogis are just gullible

people who have managed to find their own thing (yoga)

and now they take yoga and themselves much too

seriously. What is 'spirituality' anyway?